Wichita eagle., 1887-11-20


afflicted with it to be poisoned. If the
remedy was not Mephistpholean it was al
| least Nepoleaonic, terms some times sy
nonymous.
In 1866 q colony from America
consisting Of sixty-six persons. located al
Jaffa. Adams proved recreant to the
trust confied to him by his followers
and after victimizing them in shameful
| manner fled TO America where he died
| The colony has now dwindled down tC
SIX persons of whom one was our guide
to the house of SeinOn, the tanner
Another one, Mr. Clarke, formerly OF
New Hampshire, is the very
efficient agent of Thos. Cook &
Son in thiScitv. A German colony set
tied here fss been better handled. They
number $50 souls and seem to be pros
porous and contented have observed
| that the German plant bears transplant
ing better than that of any other nation
atty under the sun. and in whatever
land they may be placed, they always
show evidence of thrift.
There is another class of people here
who are worthy of brief mention, Mailing
from Africa. Their thick lips, woolly
heads, fiat noses and black skins denote
! their Nubian origin. They live
/ in squalor and filth. but they
are endowed with the most remarkable
Strength-muscular strength, l mean
| that has ever come under my notice.
| Their occupation seems to be that of a
porter, and by the aid of strap or rope
passing around the forehead and secur-
ing the load piled on their backs, will
carry a burden from the landing to the
hotel sufficient for camel. They think
nothing Of packing in this manner from
four to six hundred pounds half mile or
mere without resting. with the mercury
away up in the nineties.
We tarried but brief spell
in Jaffa, when, after securing a
dragOman or conductor we took our seats
in hack for Jerusalem, intending to
spend the night at .Ramlet. distant
twelve miles from our starting point.
We found our dragoman to be a perfect
Jewel; he is native Of Jerusalem, born
of Jewish parents but a very devout pro-
testant. Christian, who has tho bible at
his tongues end, and is walking
encyclopedia in all that relates to the
antiquities of this wonderful land
Though not classical scholar
he speaks nine different lang
uages-the English quite fuently:
His manner is kind and obliging, and the
the slightest wish expressed by US is
gratifed without demur. We feel
very kindly towards Abraham Lyons;
he saves us all the annoyance of paying
"backshish." With q simple wave Of
the hand the beggars stink away from
our presence, though all are not denied.
He seems to know just the right place to
apply it.
We struck out through narrow dusty
road, the long strings Of laden camels
and pack mules giving US the right of
way this time. For two or three miles
we passed by successive orange
orchards surrounded by hedges of
gigantic prickly pears, AT a well, where
mosque had been erected, we halted
for moment while Lyons explained
that this was the traditional burial place
of Dorcas, whom Peter restored to life.
She was a resident of Joppa, disciple.
and had endeared herself to the people
by making garments for the poor. A
little farther on and we entered the
Plains Of Sharon. "And Sharon shall
be fold of flocls and the valley of Achor
a place for the herds to lie down in" so
sings Isaiah. Further on to our left
are the villages of Benjamin, Orio and
Lod, whilst above them are
the blue hills of Judea. The
village of LYDIA lies farther
on which we do not enter but keep the
more direct road to Ramleh, whose cele-
brated tower of the twelfth century
looms up in the distance: we leave the
road in order to reach it, and passing on
foot through a large Moslem burial
in ocIry,i I
this beautiful and well preserved ruin;
reminding me much of Blarney castle.
All aronnd are ruins of huge monastry
which stamp it of the crusaders. 1t lies
Oh the edge of Ramleh and barring earth
quakes, Judging from the solidity and
symmetry looks as if it might
stand forever. The Moslems once
erected minaret on the top of it. but
that part of it is now in a tumble-down
condition.
Going back to our seats in the hack we
soon after drove into Ramleh and quar-
of Herr Rinehart Before retiring for
and motley appearance we all pre-
sented-Americans, English, Germans,
Italians, Greeks, Armenians, Jews, Turks
anu A1dDS. DOIIt tlt pa ttO llldt ulSII
for Jerusalem and the next morning,
bright and early, we followed suit. Ram
leh is not a scriptural town. but
they claim that it is the birth
place of Joseph, of Arimathea or Nicode-
mus. The Latin monastery occupies the
supposed site of his house The once
ubiquitous Napolean slept here. The
city was founded in the eighth century
i g
tween the Crusaders and Saracens It
once outranked Jerusalem in population
was we'll fortified and supplied with
water works of that period. 1t now
numbers about four thousand people.
nearly all of whom are Moslems. except
those connected officially with the Greek !
and Latin churches. In Palestine the
Roman Catholic church is distinguished
as the Latin church.
The road between Jaffa and the Holy |
City as | stated before. is in a wretched I
1t was originally made of 4
boulders and cobble stones. From time 4
to time 1t has been repaired only in spots. /
where 1t now presents a smooth surface. /
At the present time it is undergoing ex-
tensive repairs. there being not less than
900 Arabs at work along lis line They
nave DteH tls tALeeh Ntdio at Work on II, /
and you will not. wonder at the snails
pace with which progress is made, when
| tell you that not a single wagon. cart.
or shovel can be found in
use along the entire road. In many
places the old grade over which we
travelled is to be abandoned for another
which is completed only in patches.
This requires much Labor con
sideriny that the large stones used for
and walling is packed on donk-
avs and the smaller stones and all the
aarth in small baskets on the heads and ;